We undertake Debt Recovery work for organisations and our team currently includes
Partner | Legal Assistant (fee earner) |
| Jonathan Hogg (Grade A) | Sharon Sergeant (Grade C) |
Our Debt Recovery team each have in excess of 30 years’ experience in recovering debts by pre-action processes, court proceedings, insolvency proceedings and enforcement action.
Further, the team has experience in all major industry sectors where goods and services are regularly supplied. We have three members of the team who may work on your matter. Regardless of who does work on your matter, they will be supervised by Jonathan Hogg, Partner and Head of Litigation.
| Partner/Solicitors & Legal Executives with 8+ years’ experience | £250.00 Grade A |
| Solicitors/Legal Executives with 4+ years’ experience | £190.00 Grade B |
| Other fee earners of equivalent experience | £160.00 Grade C |
| Trainee Solicitors/other fee earners | £125.00 Grade D |
| PA/Secretarial and other non-fee earning/management | £75.00 Grade E |
Please click on ‘Our People’ for more information
We have set out below details of our fees in dealing with a simple unpaid invoice via the pre-action process through to court proceedings and enforcement of a county court judgement or via insolvency proceedings.
All fees quoted are exclusive of VAT(20%)
Where a claim is more complex and/or relates to a breach of contract claim where damages are potentially recoverable then these fees do not apply – we will discuss this with you at the time of instruction and as the matter progresses.
The fixed charges shown relate to standard cases. Where a matter is no longer straightforward because of a dispute or difficulty requiring an unusual amount of time or effort spending on it, the fixed charge will be supplemented by a charge directly related to the amount of extra time spent on that matter by the appropriate level of fee earner.
Fees which are not generally recoverable from the debtor include company search fees, Land Registry fees, process server’s fees, solicitor agent’s fees, counsel’s fees, oath fees, etc. We will invoice you as and when such fees are incurred and if subsequently recovered, you will be reimbursed.
The first stage of the recovery proceedings is for us to send a letter before claim to your debtor. This will show the court that you have given the debtor an opportunity to pay before court proceedings are issued. This letter can result in the debtor making a payment before court proceedings commence. We will also claim interest on your debt and compensation on commercial debts pursuant to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (interest) Act 1998 if applicable.
Our fixed fees at this stage are limited to the fixed costs you can recover if your claim is successful and in these cases there will be no cost to you if full recovery is made. You can also recover the court fee if you are successful in your claim.
If your debtor is an individual and employed (excluding self-employed individuals) then an application can be made for an attachment of earnings order. If successful the court will order that you are entitled to be paid a certain proportion of the debtor’s wage by his/her employer to satisfy your judgment debt.
An application can be made to court for a charging order if your debtor owns any property or land. If awarded a charge is placed over the debtor’s property or land providing security for the value of your judgment debt.
If you require further information about your debtor’s financial status and/or assets an application can be made to require the debtor to attend court for an oral examination. This may provide you with useful information regarding your debtor and his assets which you could look to enforce your judgment against. Failure to attend the Hearing can result in the debtor being held in contempt of Court.
If your debtor is an individual then you can commence bankruptcy proceedings. This debt must be undisputed and be at least £5,000 in order to enable you to present a bankruptcy petition. A statutory demand must first be served on your debtor and if the debt remains unsatisfied after 21 days and there is no valid dispute to the debt, you can then proceed to issue and serve a bankruptcy petition.
Where your debtor is a Company, you can commence winding up. The debt must be undisputed and more than £750.00. In the case of corporate debtors, instead of a statutory demand, you are entitled to serve a 48 hour threat of a winding up petition.
| STEP TAKEN | WHAT IS INCLUDED | NOTES | CHARGE |
| LETTER BEFORE ACTION [LBA] | Receipt of instructions on our standard form. Letter to debtor demanding payment directly to you and threatening legal proceedings. Confirmation of dispatch of letter and outcome. | Debts up to £500 | £15.00 |
| Debts up to £2,000 | £20.00 | ||
| Debts over £2,000 | £25.00 | ||
| ISSUE OF PROCEEDINGS, JUDGMENT & EXECUTION | Issue and service of County Court Claim. Notification of issue. Dealing with any Acknowledgment of Service. Entry of judgment. Issue of execution. (Warrant or Writ of Control) Enforcement Officer’s first report.
| Fees and costs shown are all recoverable from the debtor | See attached table noted as Appendix A
|
| INSTALMENTS | Monitoring and collection of instalments and accounting to you. | May follow a debtor’s offer before or after issue of proceedings, judgment or after obtaining an enforcement order. | £5.00 Each |
| ATTACHMENT OF EARNINGS | Applying for attachment of earnings order. Correspondence with Court. Completion of financial questionnaire by debtor and reporting to you. | £200.00 |
| Charging Order | Applying for Charging Order. Dealing with interim and final orders. Preparing for final hearing. Protecting your interest by registration. | An agent’s charge will apply for attendance at the final hearing. In most cases the majority of costs & disbursements will be recoverable on redemption of the charging order. | £350.00 |
| Order to Obtain Information from Judgment Debtor (Formerly Oral Examination) | Applying for order to obtain information. Dealing with service of order. Correspondence with Court. Completion of financial questionnaire by debtor and reporting to you. | If a hearing before the Judge is required this will be charged on a time basis. | £200.00
|
| Third Party Debt Orders (Formerly Garnishee) | Applying for Third Party Debt Order. Dealing with interim and final orders. Preparing for final hearing. | An agent’s charge will apply for attendance at the final hearing. | £300.00 |
| SECURITY BY VOLUNTARY CHARGE | Relevant property searches. Preparation of Voluntary Charge. Obtaining execution of charge. Registering your interest in the property. | £300.00
|
| Statutory Demand (Individual) | Preparation and service of a Statutory Demand for payment. Reporting to you on payment/expiry of the 21 day period. | £100.00 | |
| Bankruptcy | Issue and service of Bankruptcy Petition All procedural steps up to bankruptcy hearing. | For the bankruptcy hearing or if the petition is disputed or adjourned, additional charges will be made. | £400.00 |
| Winding Up Demand (Company) | Service of a 48 hour threat of Winding Up Petition. Reporting to you on response. | £75.00 | |
| Winding Up | Issue and service of Winding Up Petition All procedural steps up to the winding up hearing. | For the winding up hearing or if the petition is disputed or adjourned, additional charges will be made. | £450.00 |
THE ABOVE CHARGES ARE SUMMARISED IN THE ATTACHED TABLES.
|
| SIZE OF DEBT | ||||||||
| Up to £300.00 | £300.01 – £500 | £500.01 – £600 | £600.01 – £1,000 | £1,000.01 – £5,000 | £5,000.01 – £10,000 | £10,000.01 – £200,000 | £200,000.01 & Over | ||
| Issue of Claim | Court Fees | £35 | £50 | £70 | £70 | £80 -£205 | £455 | 5% of value of the claim | £10,000 |
| Fixed Costs | £50 | £50 | £70 | £70 | £80 | £100 | £100 | £100 | |
| Judgment In Default | Fixed Costs | £22 | £22 | £22 | £22 | £22 | £30 | £30 | £30 |
| Execution | Court Fees | £110 | £110 | £110 | £66 | £66 | £66 | £66 | £66 |
| Fixed Costs | £2.25 | £2.25 | £2.25 | £51.75 | £51.75 | £51.75 | £51.75 | £51.75 | |
| Issue, Judgment & Execution | Total Fees & Costs | £216.25 | £234.25 | £274.25 | £279.75 | £299.75 -£424.75 | £702.75 | £747.75 -£10,247.75 | £10,247.75 |
(1) If full recovery is not made you will be responsible for payment of any balance due under the fees and costs columns for the steps taken together with any non-recoverable disbursements (such as Enforcement Officer’s charges). If full recovery is made you will recover from the debtor ALL your fees and costs.
(2) If execution is issued for any debt of £600 or more you must also pay the charges of the High Court Enforcement Officer (“HCEO”) (formerly Sheriff’s Officer) which will be a minimum of £75 + VAT(20%) (£90.00) but is recoverable if execution is successful.
| OUR FIXED CHARGE | COURT FEE | OTHER DISBURSEMENTS | |
| Attachment of Earnings | £200.00 | £110.00 | – |
| Charging Order | £350.00 | £110.00 | Approx. £153.00 (Land Registry fees & Agent’s fee if hearing necessary) |
| Obtaining information from judgment debtor | £200.00 | £55.00 | Approx. £100.00 (Agent’s fee, if hearing necessary) |
| Third Party Debt Order | £300.00 | £110.00 | Approx. £100.00 (Agent’s fee, if hearing necessary) |
| Voluntary charge | £300.00 | – | Approx. £53.00 (Land Registry fees) |
| Statutory Demand | £100.00 | – | Approx. £100.00 (Process server’s fee) |
| Bankruptcy | £400.00 | £250.00 | £990.00 Official Receiver’s deposit + approx. £250.00 (process server’s fee, Solicitor agent’s fee) |
| Winding up demand | £75.00 | – | – |
| Winding Up | £450.00 | £280.00 | £1,600.00 Official Receiver’s deposit + approx. £300.00 (Company search fee, process server’s fee, advertisement fee, Solicitor agent’s fee) |